1. 50 PLAYERS AGAINST 1 LION
Last Monday 5th September, the action game show Les Cinquante (The Fifty), created by Banijay Productions France, premiered on the French channel W9.
50 reality Tv stars, gathered in a castle at an hour from Paris with an arena of 650 m2 just outside, are challenged by a Master wearing a lion mask in a series of knockout challenges implying logic, endurance and precision (references to the Squid Game’s atmospheres are evident). At the end of each trial the loser is put in the hands of the winner in a high-tension voting ceremony. A cash prize of €50,000 is up for grabs, but the winner won’t keep the money for themself but for one of the viewers, who has joined their favourite’s fan club downloading the show’s app.
2. SURVIVOR IS BACK
In these uncertain times, more and more channels bet on the “used safe”, refreshing “old classics”. After Big Brother, that will will return on UK screens in 2023 after 5 years, The Mole, created in 1998, that will be launched on Netflix (see Friday’s Espresso - 19th August) and many others, now it’s time of Survivor, that will be on air on BCC One and BBC iPlayer (produced by Remarkable Entertainment), 20 years after the show last aired in the U.K.
The story case of this classic reality show is quite interesting. The concept was created in the late ‘90ties by Charlie Parson of Planet 24, a mid-sized British independent production company of which was part also Sir Bob Geldof (!). The show was rejected by all major networks on both sides of the Atlantic, till the Strix’s CEO convinced SVT (the Swedish public broadcaster) to commission the show. SVT called it Expedition Robinson and it became a great hit in the country. So finally, after other 3 years, Mark Burnett began the production in March for the American market, and in May 2000 it premiered on CBS, becoming one of the world’s best-travelling formats.
Now Survivor, which last aired in 2002 on UK network ITV, is back: but frankly it’s difficult to say that this continuous revival of “old glories” is positive news…
3. CELEBS ON THE ISLANDS AND IN THE MILITARY CAMP
Rakuten TV, the Japanese streaming platform with a strong presence in Europe (in Spain in particular), will launch the next 19th September Discovery Canary Islands, produced internally.
This adventure reality show is filmed entirely on the Canary Islands, with the support of the local tourism agency , and goes to the discovery of the mysteries and legends of the Canary Islands. The 8 competitors are celebs from 8 different European countries (France, Germany, UK, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and Ireland), in order to be familiar to a pan-Europe audience.
They will have the opportunity to learn about local culture and traditions and will be put to the test with puzzles to solve and different trials to overcome, in order to show the spectators the beauty of the region. Their aim is to go through all the 8 islands that form Las Canarias and discover the “mysterious” ninth one: San Borondón.
On the other side of the ocean, US broadcast network Fox has commissioned an adaptation of UK format SAS: Who Dares Wins, that debuted on Channel 4 in 2015 and has had 7 main seasons and has been adapted in 5 countries so far.
In this new reboot, with the working title Special Forces: The Ultimate Test, the 16 celebrities are put to the test through a series of harsh challenges that are used as part of the recruitment process for special forces. It is set to premiere in January.